Both teams were sloppy at best, but the Sixers held on to walk away with a win, despite being clearly distracted.
Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers may have taken the 137-133 win over the Brooklyn Nets, but he wasn't a happy man.
Safe to say, there was a lot riding on the game making it more than just a regular season contest between both sides. The Philly crowd gave Ben Simmons a stormy welcome and while the Sixers did manage to edge out the Nets, the head coach wasn't pleased with the approach by his players.
Speaking to the media in the aftermath of the win, Rivers urged the need for being able to take control of emotions during a high-octane clash. Per Justin Grasso of the SunHerald:
“There’s a difference between intensity, playing with emotion, and being too emotional. I thought I saw our side of it; we were on the wrong side of that a lot tonight.”
The clash wasn't without drama as there was some shoving and verbal dialogue involved. Both teams were sloppy at best, but the Sixers held on to walk away with a win, despite being clearly distracted. Simmons' murky exit was ammo enough for the fans as they further added to the pressure.
“We have to be better as far as handling our emotions,” he finished. “It’s good to have emotions. You want to have intensity and emotion, but you don’t want to be emotional. I thought we were a lot tonight.”
Rivers isn't wrong, not when he knows that the Sixers will be put through more stern tests in the days to come.
Ben Simmons Was At The Receiving End When He Faced The Philadelphia 76ers
After all the furor that went in behind and after his move from the 76ers, the fans were relentless when Simmons took the floor. He finished his evening with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and as many assists, but clearly, there was palpable tension in the air.
Simmons was observed not taking shots and appeared to be just passing the ball on. In one instance, one of the fans yelled at his tucked-out jersey saying it wasn't a Call of Duty game he was in.
It appears that the emotions haven't taken the backseat from both parties, and hopefully things will get better when the two teams take on each other again in February.
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